Mental health

Do You Experience ‘Vacation Guilt?' You're Not Alone

A third of workers in a new study said when they do take time off, they experience guilt.

NBC Universal, Inc.

Vacations are supposed to be a break from stress, but apparently vacations cause stress for a lot of workers. A new survey shows that people may actually feel guilt for taking some time off.

New View Strategies, a business management group, surveyed about 500 workers, and of that group, 72% said they are experiencing burnout. 45% said they are not using all their time off. And a third of workers said when they do take time off, they experience guilt.

There are a few possible explanations for this. Many people who have vacation guilt regret taking a vacation because of the workload they have to deal with before or after taking that time off. About half of workers say they still check their emails when they're on vacation. And if they did manage to find some peace on vacation, about 60% said they got a call from their boss.

The authors of the survey also polled European workers who felt a lot less guilty about taking time for themselves.

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